UPDATE- Help, Spongy chokes every time she drinks!

[tehbuggy]

One of my sows, Spongy (a year and a half old) has been choking lately, usually when she's drinking from her water bottle. I changed the bottle, made sure neither were leaking, etc. but it still happens. Her other two cagemates are fine. It used to happen about once a day and sounded more like a watery cough, but now it's at least four or five times a day and she coughs for longer. It usually only lasts about 20 seconds. After this happens she usually goes right back to drinking. I've had her since she was born and she's never done this before and she has no other known health problems or symptomes.
Any ideas? Has this happened to anyone else?
I live in a small town and the vet around here isn't familiar with guinea pigs so I wanted to ask you guys first.

[twistedsymphony]

She could just be a messy drinker, or drinking too fast, mine do that sometimes but if you are worried and it seems to be all the time/ getting worse then I would take her to the vets and have them check the following things.

Malocclusion could make a water bottle hard to use and be causing the choking, have you observed any other symptoms?

"Signs of Malocclusion
The cavy may have great difficulty eating, only picking at its food or may be anorexic (not eating at all). The mouth of a cavy with malocclusion may hang slightly open. By the time most owners notice something is wrong, their pet has already lost a substantial amount of weight and may have what has been called "the slobbers". Since the mouth can no longer close completely (due to overgrowth of the teeth), the hair under the chin may be wet. "
www.guinealynx.info/malocclusion.html

Upper respiratory infection, important to rule that out if your worried about a cough

"Signs of a URI:

Refusal to eat or drink (anorexia)
No feces (as a result of not eating)
Labored breathing, wheezing
Sneezing, coughing
Crusty eyes, eyes that are almost sealed shut
Discharge from eyes or nose (read about normal Eyes)
Dull and/or receding eyes
Rough or puffed-up coat
Lethargy, hunched posture

See a vet immediately if you see any of these signs. Because URIs are so deadly and fast moving, it is imperative that the vet rules out a URI before considering the possibility of an allergy. "
www.guinealynx.info/uri.html

but sometimes mine cough when eating/ drinking too but rarely, not everyday. It's hard to tell, so I tend to air on the side of caution and take them if I am worried, better to have an un-necessary vet trip than a very ill pig.

[tehbuggy]

Thanks so much for your reply, I've checked her over again this morning.
I'm gonna keep an eye on her over the weekend and if nothing changes I'm gonna call the vet on Monday. And if things get worse then I'm bringing her before that.
I've watched her eat and she seems to be eating fine, and she hasn't lost any weight. Her front teeth looked fine when I checked them this morning but I can't check the back ones so I'm not sure. She didn't mind when I touched her mouth so, besides the usual squirming, but she didn't seem to be in pain so that's a good sign. Her mouth also does not appear to be hanging open.

I don't think it's a URI, from what I can tell she doesn't have any of the other symptomes. She's still eating, and it's hard to tell how much she's pooping (she has two cagemates). Her breathing is normal and her eyes are clear. Her fur seems fine too

There are never any wet spots or anything after she chokes, so she isn't coughing anything up. I was worried that she might get dehydrated but it seems that she's keeping all the water she drinks. Just to be safe, what are the signs of dehydration?

It seems like this is her only symptom, she's not lethargic or anything, she's squeaking fine, and all other behavior is normal. If it is just her drinking too fast (which is strange since it's she's never done this before, but she IS my little oddball) what can I do to help that? I can't exactly sit her down for a nice chat and ask her to slow down ;P

[twistedsymphony]

that all sounds encouraging .

I had another thought, One of my pigs is prone to the hiccups, sometimes it looks like she is trying to cough up a hair ball, really lurches forward sometimes I was petrified the first time I saw her do it and then she coughs and wonders off as if nothing happened! could this be what you are seeing? there's some more info in this link
www.oginet.com/pgurney/heavinghiccups.htm
4 or 5 times a day is still a lot for that to be happening, just another possibility though.

Dehydration
Can't find so much information on this surprisingly, but it would seem that lethargy, low temperature, sunken eyes are the main symptoms.

If the vet gives her a once over and they say she is fine then all I can think of to do is try buying a new water bottle with a different spout, perhaps a spout at a shallower angle would help, trial and error may be all that you can do, if you are worried about dehydration then you could try giving them extra cucumber, you could even try a water dish.

[ariana]

Poor thing i hope she gets better!

[tehbuggy]

I found a video on youtube of a guinea pig doing the exact same thing:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OqGKeT7ikc

[tehbuggy]

UPDATE:

I just got Spongy back from the vet. She's great! Turns out her choking is because of a minor cold my herd is getting over, and turns out Spongy had some sort of infection when she was a baby and that made it a lot worse. Spongy actually choked a bit in the vet's office, which was really a good thing because then the vet got to see exactly what it was. She checked her lungs and said they sounded alright, but it seemed like there was something there that wasn't quite right. She asked if Spongy had ever been sick because and I told her about some of the symptoms she had when she was a baby. When she was about a week old she developped a head tilt, but it didn't last long and was gone before I brought her to the vet. She had a few other small problems at the same time too. I had only owned guinea pigs for a month at the time and overlooked them, and I wasn't sure what was normal with babies so I didn't realize what it was. The vet said that it sounded like an infection she had but that even though she's over it now some of the effects will always be with her, like the weird noises when she gets a cold and that she may be slightly more susceptible to problems with her lungs. But she gave me a list of signs to look out for and some information but said that besides that she's perfectly healthy.

I feel a lot better now, and I think I have officially found my go-to vet! The entire staff was friendly and helpful, and they all really knew what they were doing. They even have a resident guinea pig there, so they're all familiar with them. The vet explained everythin she was doing and gave a lot of imformation. And their prices are pretty good too, for a vet. I had an amazing experience with them.

[dkwannabe]

Glad everything is okay with her and that you found a good vet!